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This is your Northwest report for Friday, May 24, I'm David Sparks and I would bet I have done over 100 stories on the subject of sustainability in the last year alone. It is a huge issue which is open to so many different interpretations. However, the true definition of sustainability is a question that may never have a complete answer, and some in agriculture want to make sure the farm bill doesn’t take a crack at it. Speaking at the agri-pulse Farm Bill Summit this week, a group of conservation leaders were hesitant to say that sustainability needed to be formally defined in the Farm Bill or any other legislation for that matter Tina May with Lana Lakes says such a debate could lead to industry infighting.”Putting a definition in statute talking about sustainability and what it means for a farmer is hard. Then you have all of these fights about what that definition should be and why.” May Is a former Capitol Hill staffer and she said the time it would take to develop such a definition would be better spent working to improve on the ground conservation activity, but as companies continue to make corporate pledges in the name of sustainability, no one knows what the best approach is.

Elsewhere, A group of ag organizations met with White House economic staffers Wednesday afternoon to tell the administration how they see trade priorities going forward.